Fallen Idol
by Nosebleed Inc
Summary: Whatever you do, remain staring at the little red dot.
1. Pop

Fallen Idol  
Concept by The Tears of a Mad Man  
Written by Sean Catlett and The Tears of a Mad Man

Chapter 1

I just hear stories. 

Rumors. About how it happened. 

This could or could not be true, I want to tell you right now. This could be a story that was messed up over the course of it's telling and retelling. A friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of someone he knows. Throughout it's history it could have either been added or subtracted from, multiplied or divided. 

So don't take any of the following as fact. I suggest taking it like a fable, or a myth. I've always liked those. 

So. 

Take a seat, relax, pull up a chair. 

Get comfy. 

Now, where should I start . . .

**********

It's the beginning. 

Here, everything is bright and colorful and perfect. Everything seems like heaven . . . . 

And then . . . it happens. 

Boom. 

An explosion. 

Suddenly, there is screaming and running crying and . . . so on. I'm not really sure, I wasn't there to witness it. All I have are mixed jumbles of details from different people. Some of them say that the sky turned dark black and it rained fire and brimstone, others say all they noticed was the blood raining from the sky. 

Either way, destruction. The end of the world. 

This was apparently a new weapon of some kind, put to use on a city of high population, Station Square, to make an example of them by the creator of this weapon. 

A slap in the face to the world. A 'fuck you if you try and oppose me.'

Thing was, nobody knew who was behind it. 

Well, technically, all who knew were either dying or running, but I'm going off track. The point is, in the midst of the chaos, in all the red, came a streak of blue and a streak of orange. 

The heroes. 

Saviors. 

Thank God. Because even though there was destruction all around, the crowd let up a cheer and clapped their hands, cheering:

Sonic!

Sonic!

Sonic!

One flew a few feet in the air and one ran along the ground, both going at about the same speed. In the middle of the end of it all, they stopped and looked around. 

Sonic at the sky. 

Tails at the cheering crowd.

Sonic!

Sonic!

Sonic!

"Tails!"

"Sorry . . . what?"

"Get your head outa the dirt and get thinking!"

Pop. 

"Any idea who's causing this?"

The sound of someone cheering was cut short by the splatter of his body. 

"Well, this isn't Eggman's style . . ."

Blood hit the back of Tails' head. 

"He likes using absurdly built robots and awkward battle mechanics with a background of some plot to take over the world."

Sonic watched another person combust in a sea of fluids, and cringed. 

"This seems like more mindless killing, and Robotnik never liked getting his hands THIS dirty. He would have preferred a laser or something . . ."

Then went another. 

"But people here are just exploding for no reason."

Because of years and years of battling, battling, and battling, Sonic and Tails seemed to have grown a hard exterior for this sort of thing. Sure, it was hard to watch, but they were somewhat used to it. Kind of like a surgeon or a corpse retriever. Something in the medical field. 

"There's got to be a reason, Tails, there always is."

Tails flinched as he heard the sickening pop of someone else exploding. 

"So, little buddy, what do we do?"

Tails looked at the cheering crowd. 

Sonic!

Sonic!

Sonic!

Pop. 

Frantically he searched through the crowd, looking from face to face, searching for an answer to present itself. 

Pop. 

The cheers faded a little. 

Pop. 

And suddenly . . . 

"There!"

He saw him. A man, not cheering or afraid or running or anything, covered in tiny specks of blood, silent at the crowd. And although wearing a thick gray overcoat, his hands could be seen moving rapidly beneath his coat. In deep concentration. In thought. 

In other words, suspicious. 

Tails pointed in the middle of the crowd, and immediately the man's hands stopped moving. He bolted and ran in the other direction. 

"Where?!" Tails could hear Sonic behind him. 

Not waiting for Sonic to see him, Tails lowered his arm and started twirling his tails. 

**********

'So, we saw the man dressed in the overcoat, not doing or saying anything, so we decided to go after him.'

There was the sound of a thousand clicks of automatic cameras capturing Sonic's expression as he spoke. All of these reporters in the press room trying to get a good shot for the front page of the paper. 

Title reads: Sonic Saves the City. 

Smaller Title reads: Killer at Large!

Smaller title reads: Famous Actress Pregnant!

Even smaller title reads: Tails Injured in City Chase.

'Sonic! Are you saying that you noticed the killer in the midst of a large and hysterical crowd, just by his appearance?'

'Well . . . I guess . . .'

Small title reads: Hero of Mass Murder Case Modest Beyond Belief. 

A different reporter raised her hand. 

'Sonic! After Tails' failed attempt to subdue the killer, and his almost subsequent killing, how did you manage to save him?"

A thousand clicks. 

'Well, I just thought about what would happen if I lost my little buddy, and everything else came natural. I ran as fast as I could, intuitively guessing where he would be. I'm glad I was right. I don't want to lose him to anyone, and I guess that's why I'm overprotective of him at times.'

Small title reads: Sonic the Hedgehog Cries During Press Meeting. 

Another raised his hand. 

'How did the killer get away?'

Silence.

'Actually, I only managed to catch a glimpse of him rounding the corner of the alley, away from Tails' body. This guy was obviously quicker than the average person, and I didn't know how badly Tails was hurt. I guess I wasn't fast enough . . .'

'But you were fast enough to save your friend's life, right?'

' . . . yeah . . .'

A thousand clicks. 

Title reads: Mass Killer Gives Slip to Sonic Sidekick, Tails.

Title reads: Sonic Saves Best Friend's Life

'Do you have any leads on the whereabouts of this mastermind?'

'Not yet, but as soon as Tails gets better . . .'

'Sonic! How does this event mark your career as a superhero?'

'I . . .'

'Sonic! How do you feel about Amy Rose?'

'Sonic! When are you going to run in the Olympics?'

A thousand clicks. 

Small title reads: Tails in Hospital. 

**********

It was by the third or forth request card where I'm guessing Tails stopped giving a shit about anything. 

In the hospital bed, he had awakened with a headache, due to the concussion, and he wasn't in the mood for any adoration. 

All he wanted to do was think about the case. 

All he wanted to do was maybe get some sleep. 

All he wanted to do was figure things out, yet again. And he wasn't comfortable until he felt he actually DID something. 

But no. 

The request cards and autographs came in. Not from any fans of his, not from his anonymous parents, but from the hospital staff, all wanting something from Sonic. 

Once. Twice. Then, no care for anything. 

As much as Tails probably tried to think about the task at hand, the reason people were exploding, and trying NOT to think about how he let the possible man responsible for his injury get away, he was nagged. 

Nagged. 

Nagged . . . . 

Until suddenly he was over the edge of his cliff. 

'That's it. No more. I've had it.' 

When Sonic came in, with a soft expression of 'get better buddy', Tails just glared. 

When he explained how well the press conference went, Tails just glared. 

When Sonic asked what was wrong, Tails just glared. 

Then there was a long moment of silence. 

Silence. 

Silence. 

Then, "I hate you."


	2. Not One

Fallen Idol  
Concept by The Tears of a Mad Man  
Written by Sean Catlett and The Tears of a Mad Man

Chapter 2

What are words that would describe this moment in time?

Surprise.

Anger.

Love.

Hate.

The glare coming from Tails' eyes was chilling, cold and spiteful.

"Tails?"

Sonic was worried.

"Tails . . . are you . . . feeling all right?"

Sonic was concerned.

"Tails . . . talk to me, man!"

Sonic was scared.

" . . . Get out, now."

Tails was mad.

"You son of a bitch, it's your fault!"

Tails was angry.

"It's your fault I'm always in your fucking shadow!!!"

Tails was pissed.

Sonic took a step back. What happened? Something in Tails had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

"Miles-"

"YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO CALL ME THAT!!!"

Sonic took yet another step back. Now he was in total shock.

"Please Tails, whatever I did, I'm sorry!"

"Whatever you did?! HA! You must be sorry for the WHOLE TIME I'VE KNOWN YOU!!!"

Tails shot out of his bed, in which he almost fell down. The concussion had made him very dizzy indeed. When Sonic took a step forward to help, Tails shot his head up, giving him a bitter glare.

"Don't fucking touch me."

**********

Reporters and fans waited outside, waiting for their blue hero.

They wanted to ask them how he felt.

How he was going to catch the mysterious man.

How things were going with Amy.

How his friendship with Knuckles was.

Not one was going to ask about Tails.

Not *one*.

The door opened. Everyone stood up, got their cameras up, and ran to the door.

They all were disappointed when Tails stepped out, a bandage over his head.

They all were disappointed when Sonic didn't follow suit.

Through the huge crowd, one reporter stepped up to Tails. Miles grinned. At least one person was concerned about his well being.

At least *one*.

"So Tails . . . were is Sonic at?"

"..."

Not *one*.

"..."

You could see the blood shed onto the camera as Miles punched him in the face.

**********

A few minutes later, the reporter was sent away in an ambulance, and Sonic stepped out the door. He was rushed by a crowd of fans, local news reporters, and hundreds of flashing cameras.

"Sonic, what's going on?"

"Sonic, why is Tails acting so violent?"

"Sonic, does Tails have anger problems?"

Heh, funny, now Tails is the talk of the town.

Well, maybe not.

"Sonic, how are you going to capture this "unknown killer"?"

"Sonic, is it true you and Amy have unprotected sex?"

"Sonic, are you going to run this week's charity marathon?"  
Sonic looked around to all the cameras, to all the reporters, to all the fans. That's when they all saw it. No one would believe it unless they were there to see it for them selves.

It was like seeing Jesus rape a 10 year old, or a raging fire turn to crystal clear ice.

Sonic was crying.

Not like at the press meeting, not just a stray tear.

Sonic was balling his fucking eyes out. For real this time.

They all started asking questions so fast, they didn't see it sooner.

Sonic ran past the crowd, who were in a state of shock.

Sonic was crying all right.

Crying like he had just lost a loved one.


	3. Scab

Fallen Idol  
Concept by The Tears of a Mad Man  
Written by Sean Catlett and The Tears of a Mad Man

Chapter 3

It was raining that day . . . 

Fucker. 

The sound of footsteps on the sidewalk could be heard down the block, because Tails was slamming his feet down as hard as he could. The ground was still wet from the downpour and there were dying worms lying in puddles. 

Asshole. 

He was walking for a long before he noticed that he walked into the Boardwalk area of town. 

Shit cock sucker. 

This was the part of town where everyone went to have a good time, or to escape the bad ones. To gain a moment of privacy, or to create a scene. Everywhere were abandoned buildings and bars and cat houses and warehouses and late hour bars to escape reality. 

The last place Sonic would ever go. 

Loser. 

To the left were the docking yards where the sun could be seen setting low in the background of their shadows. It was getting a little late. Soon, individuals of the seedy kind would emerge and start the workings of their lifestyle. Looking for whatever. 

And Tails looked amongst the buildings, looking for an answer to present itself. 

Pop. 

Fizz. 

A bar, set on the docks and built out of old driftwood. It looked as though any fire lit inside would cause the entire place to be set ablaze. 

At first, Tails was hesitant to walk in, because of the age thing. He was only a little kid, after all, and in addition to nobody taking you seriously was the law that you couldn't drink if you were under age. 

But, fuck, this was the Boardwalk. The seedy equivalent of New Orleans, if that's even possible. 

This is The Big NO. 

The sun went down, and for a long time, Tails stood in the dark waiting for himself to move. To get the guts to take a leap of faith and walk in. 

Then he had a quick flash of memory, a distorted view of Sonic's face. Tails' fists tightened. 

And with that, Tails walked in, to the nearest bar he saw, sporting big red neon letters. To him, it was the best welcoming he'd ever seen. 

The Hole Chuckler. 

**********

"I thought I was his idol . . ."

Between the loud sobs and the sound of snot going through the couch cushions, were words of regret spoken by a bawling pile of blue, to nobody in particular. For once, no one was listening to him speak. 

Well, unless you count the mob of reporters waiting outside the door, tape recorders in hand, cameras fired up, notepads close by, ready to pounce and get the scoop on Sonic's emotions. 

Title reads: Bullshit

Title reads: Fuck off

Title reads: I had Knuckle's love child. 

Strewn about the apartment were wet Kleenexes and paper towels, signs that what was happening was indeed real. 

Sonic lifted his head from his pillow and tried to calm down. Tried to stop the tears from flowing out. Tried to turn on the 'stop caring' attitude he learned from years and years of being a 'superhero.'

"Calm down, hedgehog. Get your head out of the sand and get thinking . . ." And he would have started up the sob-fest again if not he heard a fowl-mouthed reporter on the other side of the door, talking a little too loudly. 

"Man, what's Sonic all riled up about that little shit for?! It's not like he needs him or anything."

"Yeah, that sniveling little bitch has held him back too many times. I mean, just look at how the killer got away."

"Exactly. Sonic would be better off without him."

"Little cock hit me in the face . . ."

"Fucking brat . . ."

"Freak . . ."

"Retarded ass fox boy . . ."

And next to the couch, instead of a bawling, crying mass a blue, was Sonic, fist clenched, steaming mad and ready to knock the teeth out of the next person who asked him a stupid question, like how Rouge managed to fit herself into that tight suit she wears. Like he gave a shit. 

"That's it. I've had it."

Gotta get on track. 

Gotta solve the case. 

Gotta find Tails . . . 

With that, Sonic climbed out of his hotel window and down the fire escape. 

It was with the sonic boom coming from down the street that the reporters finally realized that Sonic had given them the slip.

**********

100 bottles of beer on the wall. 

See how many you can drink. 

Tails, apprehensive at first, managed to down a couple of gulps of beer before he started to choke on the awful taste of the shit. The frothy fluid rolled out of Tails' gaping mouth and onto the oak bar table. 

The bartender laughed. The patrons laughed. Tails laughed. 

Sitting on a stool, on two stacks of ten year old phone books, in the middle of the smoke-filled 'chuckler hole', Tails was uncomfortable, tired, hurting, and coughing from the solidified nicotine, but at least he was away from anybody who knew who he was. Or rather, who his partner was. 

Tails fingered the bandage on his head, and started pulling it off. 

Ouch. The headache was still there, and the feeling of dried fluid being ripped from his bare scalp did not help things any. 

With the white, tapered, red stained remnants of tissue on the bar floor, not soaking up the spilled alcohol, only then did Tails remember the matter at hand. 

The murderer at large. 

Tails leaned forward on his perch and forced his brain to think. He ignored the still sour taste of beer and second hand smoke in his mouth. 

The murderer . . . 

Somehow, people were spontaneously exploding. And not in flames, but in blood. It was as if the body became liquid itself. Tails could not recall seeing any sort of internal organs or bones in the sloppy mess on the asphalt. 

Outside, Tails could hear that it started to rain. Patrons came in with makeshift umbrellas since they were caught without them. Newspapers and the like.

Tails turned around and noticed for the first time the bar mirror hanging directly behind the bartender. He could see his head. 

His half shaven head. Without his hair, his head looked weird, like he had the skin of a pig fetus. Light pink. 

Pink, except for the large, black and blue bruise radiating around the scar on left side of his head. 

Carefully, Tails felt the scar. Looked like he needed stitches. The small wires of the doctor's work poked out, with small dried blood stains in various points. 

Blood. 

The mirror on the wall, although very dirty, was so surprisingly clear. 

He put his hand down and tried to remember . . . . . . 

**********

Fu . . . 

**********

"Shit."

Nothing. He couldn't remember shit. 

Tails stopped trying so hard immediately, as it hurt his head too much to think. 

He needed a drink. 

A real drink. 

He asked the bartender for a glass of water, and then went back to staring at his scar in the mirror. 

He started to pick at it, asking himself remember to ask the bartender for a shitload of napkins when he was finished with the drink. 

**********

It was a good thing the hospital had sinks everywhere, or the coroner would have had to clean up Sonic's vomit off the floor. 

It was much worse than he had expected, and Sonic's 'not caring' attitude hadn't worked. For some reason, the combination of being in a hospital and being near gallons and gallons of blood was too much for him. 

Sonic's run had started of as going block to block, place to place, searching where Tails usually liked to go. The book store, the video game store, the bakery, the burger joint, insert random thing here, so on and so forth. Everywhere. Nowhere.

And eventually Sonic realized that he had arrived back at the scene of the crime. 

Explodmania. 

Even though the early morning rain had washed most of the blood away, as well as the evidence mop up, pun intended, the air still stank of mixed blood and water. 

Sonic shuddered, and decided it was best that he get back on the case. He figured that Tails would be thinking the same thing. 

Solve the case, save the city. The simplest job in the world. 

Sonic headed down to the coroner's office where he caught up with Jim, the man assigned to the bodies, or lack thereof. 

Sonic pushed open the double doors to the room, finding the doc sleeping at a corner desk over a stack of papers. Rousing him, Sonic ignored the string of sleep talk and waited for a coherent sentence.

"Finally. I was waiting for one of you to show up. What can I do for you?"

The dark circles under the technician's eyes showed not only a state of perpetual sleep, but perpetual darkness. 

Sonic could relate. Slightly. 

"I came to see if you found anything out about the cause of death."

The coroner lowered his eyes. "No."

"No?"

"No."

"Okay . . . care to elaborate?"

Sonic began to notice that the coroner was shifting uncomfortably. "What I mean is . . . I can't find out shit with what I have to work with."

The blue hero looked around the sterile room and noticed there were no bodies lying on examination tables. "Did . . Did you even DO the autopsy?"

The coroner just gave Sonic an odd stare, reached under his desk, and hefted a large plastic bag in front of him. The contents inside squished around sickeningly. "Tell me, Mr. Expert, how do you do an autopsy on something that's pure liquid?"

. . . 

"I can't sort through shit like this! There must be at least 20 people in here, all inside this garbage bag that I had to get from Otto, our janitor!"

. . . 

"The only thing I did find out is that these people aren't "spontaneously exploding," like the press says, but instead are just "spontaneously liquefying," you see. There are absolutely no chunks of human flesh or organs that I could find in this mess."

. . . 

"I double checked that, too, and the cleanup crew didn't report picking up any thing other than huge amounts of blood. Speaking of which, this fluid, from what I could gather, is a mixture of different parts of the human body . . ." Jim reached his gloved hand into the bag and pulled it back out, showing with his fingers the coloration. "See? Also, you can kind of smell the difference from normal blood, but only an experienced physician would be able to tell . . ."

"Stop . . ."

"So, back to the coloration. You see, it's darker than normal, meaning that it's blood mixed with skin, livers, organs, food, lungs, brain matter, bones, and anything else that was in the body at the time of liquification . . ."

"Please . . . ."

"Including fecal matter and urine . . ."

"God . . . fuck . . ."

"This further proved my theory that nobody was really exploding, just changing states of matter. How this is even medically possible, I have no idea, but . . . you okay?"

And here he are, at the sink, listening to Sonic heave and moan and say "Oh fuck" in between spurts of vomit. 

"Oh fuck!"

"Well, at least I don't have to mop up your nasty ass vomit, man, that shit grosses me out."

**********

"That mother fucking bastard," Tails mumbled under his breath. 

In the past ten minutes, it seemed like his anger was just growing even more for Sonic's attitude as he sat on the bar stool, seething. 

Tails took another sip of water and slammed the glass down on the bar table. As much as he tried to focus on the case, he couldn't. It's impossible to when a mirror version of yourself stared back at you with a pig fetus head with small amounts of blood seeping out of a stitched up head wound. 

"His fault . . ." those words just kept repeating over and over in Tails' mind. Stopping the words were like trying to stop a bullet train with a pellet gun. So they kept repeating. 

The words kept repeating when he ripped another stitch out. 

The words kept repeating when he accidentally knocked over his empty glass, and shattered it on the floor next to the feet of a bar patron. 

Kept repeating when he turned around to apologize . . .

His fault.

His fault.

Their eyes met. 

'His fault.

'His fault.'

"His fault."

"HIS FAULT!!"

Tails' voice carried across the entire bar room, and the man in the thick gray over coat, hands unmoving this time, but shaking nervously and looking from corner to corner, avoiding Tails' accusing gaze. 

Then he made a break for it. 

Great. 

Just perfect. 

"Here we go again, mother fucker."

**********

Sonic left the hospital shortly afterward and decided to check up on the witnesses, see if he could find out anything useful. After checking on the list at the police station and handling a few congratulated handshakes, he was off to the first name on the list. 

At the first house, he had to give an autograph. 

At the second, a signed photo.

At the third, a signed boob.

At the forth, a signed videogame and t-shirt, followed by a group photograph. 

And finally, at the fifth witnesses house, he got somewhere. 

"I'm sorry for waking you, Mrs. Kurtsweil, but I need information."

"Come in, sonny . . ." The old, decrepit woman of about 80 answered the door and let Sonic in. She walked with a limp and leaned heavily on her cane. She wore pajamas. Inside her old Victorian style house were faded red flower embroidered carpets and small crystalline figures of famous television characters. The old lady must have been some sort of a collector. 

Sonic knew that the old lady's name was Charlotte from the police reports but had not as of yet said his own name, because he figured she already knew it. 

Charlotte walked into the living room and sat down with difficulty on the giant red chair. She let out a breath of air in a huff. Sonic chose to stay standing. 

"Want anything sonny? A glass of water?"

"No thank you, ma'm."

"Suit yourself."

Sonic paused before continuing. "So, what can you tell me about yesterday?"

The lady smiled. 

"Tell you? Let's see . . . It's hard to remember anything these days. I saw all those people, exploding right in front of me, and I was very afraid. I remember feeling . . . Pain. Like I was going to start crying right there. Then . . . it stopped suddenly. And then I noticed this . . ."

The old lady outstretched her arm and pulled her sleeve up to her shoulder very quickly. She bit her lip, and tears welled up in her eyes. 

If Sonic could still throw up, he would have, but he managed to hold it in until he got outside. 

The old lady's arm was full of large holes that went all the way through to the other side. Perfect, round holes the size of silver dollars. The light from the windows on the other side shone through. 

**********

Splash, splash, splash. 

The sound of pounding footfalls echoed throughout the empty warehouse that the suspect and Tails had ran into. Trailing close behind the human, the fox started to twirl his tails and levitated into the air. His legs stopped moving his legs and instead of running he was flying. 

The human ahead heard the flap of the tails, and stopped running. He noticed a giant pipe on the ground and picked it up. 

Tails grinned slightly. He went faster. 

When the flying fox got close enough to hit, the human swung . . . and missed. 

Furiously the killer swung in the air, missing Tails each time. It looked like a battle with a giant fly, trying to hit it with a swatter while it flew around in circles. 

Because of the nonstop swinging, the human slowly started to lose his strength, and that is when Tails attacked. He flew straight at the human's face and used his momentum to lay a powerful punch to the temple. 

Predictably, the human fell, dazed. The pipe flew out of reach. 

Tails landed and looked around the warehouse. Despite the dirty cardboard boxes and the layers of dust, there were lines of twine hanging from the ceiling and a folding chair sitting silently in the corner. 

Convenient. 

**********

"How does Tails do this everyday?!"

Laying down on his couch in his apartment, Sonic decided to rest his brain for the night. It was easily eleven at night, and he was tired. 

Sonic thought about all the times Tails had helped situations using his brain, instead of barreling ahead with no thought. 

Sonic had tried to imitate Tails as best he could, but he failed. 

"I'm too stupid. I can't . . ."

He just put his head down on the pillow and tried to get some sleep. It was late . . . 

**********

Tails hit the killer across the face, waking him. 

"HEY! Wake up."

There was some incoherent speech until the man noticed that he was tied tightly to a rusted steel folding chair. 

"Oh . . . It's you. What do you want?"

"You're kidding, right? You're only the prime suspect in the 'exploding people case,' as the press is calling it."

"Really . . . . I thought they were calling it "Sonic is solving another case."

Tails grabbed him by his collar.

"Watch it!"

"Or what?!"

Tails grinned, then smacked the man across the face. His nose started bleeding."That."

The man spat. 

"So . . . Tell me who you are."

"Call me Mr. Merrick, although that's not my real name."

"Fine. Fuck you if you don't want to tell me. The cops can beat it out of you. Why have you been killing people?"

Merrick smiled. "Because I can. It's an ability I've had ever since I was a kid . . ."

"You make me sick . . ."

"So, where is Sonic anyway? I really would like to-"

Merrick was interrupted by Tails' hand coming across his face. "Shut up with that shit already! God, I'm so sick of this! Everyone worships Sonic like he's some fucking deity without faults! He's only a mortal! God, so he runs fast, big deal! I can fly, for fuck's sake! And even I'm not perfect! He should be the same."

An uncomfortable silence.

"Geez, I hit a nerve. Somebody's bitter."

" . . ."

"Obviously you've got issues you need to work out."

"Look who's talking. Fucking freak."

The smile suddenly faded from Merrick's face. "What did you call me?"

"A . . . FUCKING . . . FREAK!!!" Tails got right up to the man's face and yelled it. Small spit droplets landed in Merrick's eyes. 

Merrick blinked, then got a stone hard look of concentration on his face. 

"What are you doing?" Tails asked, backing away a couple of steps. Merrick kept the stone hard stare leveled at Tails, obviously concentrating very hard.

"Stop that."

He didn't stop. 

"STOP THAT!!"

He didn't stop. Tails suddenly felt . . . One, he felt his blood begin to boil and his skin crawl, Two, his eyes began to squint, Three, his throat began to dry . . . .

Merrick smiled but kept his concentration. 

Four, Tails got angry. 

Five, Tails got very angry. 

Six, Tails lost control. 

Seven, Tails screamed as he jumped on top of Merrick and started beating his face to a pulp. 

Eight, Tails felt his face contorted in rage and covered in blood. 

Nine, Tails didn't stop pounding for five minutes straight. 

Ten, Tails finally walked away from the carnage and sat down at the opposite end of the warehouse. 

Eleven, Tails realized he couldn't tell if Merrick was dead or not. 

Twelve, Tails realized that it was the best he'd ever felt in his life. 

Thirteen, Tails started thinking about how great it would feel if he had done it to Sonic instead. 

**********

Sonic, instead of having a nightmare about exploding in a shower of red confetti, was having a nightmare about beating up an old woman. 

His waking scream was so loud that it woke the neighbors. 


	4. Possum

Fallen Idol  
Concept by The Tears of a Mad Man  
Written by Sean Catlett and The Tears of a Mad Man

Chapter 4

It felt too good to be right.

The blood was still on his hands . . . he had been looking at it for about ten minutes. The crimson stained his gloves and fur . . . but he didn't mind that too much. It was how much fun it was. Tails had never hurt anything other then a 'bot before . . . this was all new to him.

He didn't know what this was, insanity or enlightenment . . . but he didn't care . . . 

He wanted more.

**********

Sonic sighed to himself as he looked at the papers. Nothing made sense . . . Tails, the killer, people turning into puddles of blood, the old lady with holes through her arm . . . it felt like some kind of Stephen King movie, and that dream was something right out of a Dean Koontz book. With all these twists and turns . . . it was getting on his nerves. If only this was a simple case . . . like . . . say . . . 

Villain A attacks City B, Hero C stops Villain A, and gets Whore D.

Simple, is it not?

But no, it had to be more complicated . . . Fuck.

Then something came to Sonic.

. . . 

. . . He'd better get a lot of whores for this.

**********

As much as Tails tried to stop himself from rocking back and forth, he couldn't. It just felt right . . . once in awhile he'd feel his head, flinging his hand away from his wound as a sting spread into it. Some blood trickled down his face, right by his mouth. Not really thinking about it, Tails licked it away, savoring the taste of the crimson liquid . . . . . . . . . . . . 

He stopped himself . . . what the fuck was he doing? He was licking up his own blood . . . and liking it? Tails wiped his mouth, also trying to remove the rusty taste on his tongue. He looked over to Merrick's body, which was still unmoving. When he first beat the crap out of him, he felt so bad that he might of killed the man . . . but now . . . he really didn't care either way.

This was about the time Merrick's body twitched, and a painful moan slid out of his lips . . . 

**********

Amy peeked through the door, to see Sonic at Tails' old desk, working on some stuff. She slowly walked up behind him . . . 

"Still no idea where he could be, huh?"

Sonic nearly jumped out of his skin, but fell out of the seat instead.

"Shit!" Sonic stood up, and looked at Amy. "You scared the blue off my quills!"

Amy blinked a few times before speaking again. "Man, you're really jumpy. Maybe you should switch to decaf . . ."

Sonic sighed and sat back down, still unsure of what to do next. "Well Amy, it's been a hard day . . . well, a hard last couple of days . . . I really need a break."

"You sure look like it . . . Hey, I came here to tell you I had an idea!"

Sonic rolled his eyes, his back was turned so she didn't see.

*Wonderful* He thought. *Nothing better then getting some wacked-out advice from Amy . . . well, it's not like I have anything . . .*

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well . . . Tails seems to have changed, so you have to change the Tails you think you know."

Sonic looked over his shoulder at Amy, his eye brow raising. "Which means . . . ?"

Amy smiled her peppy little smile, happy she had grabbed her hero's attention. "Well, where Tails would like to go would be the obvious choice . . . buuut, this can't be the Tails we used to know. Something's changed. So, so have his hiding spots! I say, look in the last place you think he would go!"

Sonic thought about this for awhile . . . *Its not that he's changed . . .* He thought, *It's that for some reason he hates me now . . . but she still does have a point.*

"Well Amy, that's not a half bad idea! Good job!" He forced a smile for her. It was the least he could do.

She smiled a smile too. A smile so bright it could light up the entire New York sewage system.

"Anything for you, Sonic!" She gave him a big hug and kiss and left the room. Sonic felt slightly sick. That girl can be way too happy sometimes . . . And then he went back to work.

**********

Tails watched Merrick slowly awaken. "It's about damn time . . . thought I killed you for awhile..." Merrick looked over to Tails. " . . . Too bad." Tails finished.

Merrick looked away from Tails, looking skyward. " . . . It didn't work . . ." He whispered to himself. This whisper had been just a bit too loud, as Tails heard it. " . . . What didn't work?" He asked.

Merrick looked back over to Tails. "None of your concern . . ."

Tails face went into a rock hard stare. "None of my concern, huh? The HELL if it's not! You're under my law right now, bitch . . . Now tell me, what are you talking about?"

Merrick grinned at Tails, which antagonized him even more. "Your law? Sure . . . Either way, I'm not telling you. It's . . . "Personal Business"".

Tails got up and walked towards Merrick, he then leaned over his body. " . . . Tell me, you sick son of a bitch . . . because it probably has something to do with why you were staring at me . . ."

The "Sick son of a bitch" grinned once again. "Indeed it does, smart one, but details . . . that's what you're going to have to beat out of me . . ."

. . . 

"So be it."

Outside, a few birds flew away to the sound of Merrick's head slamming into the warehouses metal fold wall.

**********

Sonic walked into some bar. This place reeked of vomit and cigarette smoke. He looked around for any sign of Tails, but none could be found. Tails hated bars, so bars were what Sonic was looking in. This was about the 7th one he'd checked so far . . . and still no luck.

As Sonic walked out of the Bar, he bumped into the bar's sign, sending it crashing to the floor and breaking it up somewhat.

"Shit . . ." He said to himself. No one seemed to notice . . . so he simply put it back on the window and walked out.

Now, when people walked into the bar, they thought they were entering a bar called . . . "T e Hol Chu k er"

**********

Tails slammed Merrick's body back down on the pavement.

"Are you gonna talk yet?" He asked.

After spitting up a tooth, Merrick finally responded "Fine!"

Tails grinned to himself. About damn time.

"I was trying to turn you into liquid, like the others . . . but my theory was true. Instead of turning you into a puddle of blood, it put you in a rage. It seems my ability has different effects on different species . . ."

Tails looked at him for awhile, wondering . . . before saying, "What a crock of shit." and kicking him in the ribs.

**********

Sonic heard a small scream as he was walking away from the bar. He turned to a run down warehouse nearby where the scream seemed to come from.

"Hello?" Sonic yelled, hoping for a response. After a few seconds, Sonic walked towards it, hoping to find whoever was in trouble . . . 

**********

"Fuck!" Tails said as he watched Sonic walk towards them. He grabbed Merrick by the collar and looked around. "Okay, freak boy . . . don't ask me why, but I'm gonna to give you a break." Tails then opened a large metal box full of wheat. "Hide!" then he threw Merrick into it and slammed the lid back shut on it.

Tails looked around. "Shit, what now?!" Tails said. But then it came to him . . . an idea.

Play possum.

Tails then fell to the floor, acting as if he was knocked out.

**********

Sonic walked into the large building to see Tails laying on the ground. "Miles!!!" Sonic screamed as he ran to his "Buddy's" side. He held him in his arms, hoping he was okay.

"Tails? Tails?! Wake up! Are you alright?" Tails eyes slowly opened to look at the blue blur hovering over him.

"S-sonic?" Tails mumbled.

"It's okay, Tails . . . God Tails, I'm so fucking sorry for all of this, I swear, I'll make a POINT you're always in the headlines! I swear! Please forgive for not seeing this sooner!"

Tails gave a small smile. "Of course I forgive you Sonic . . . you're my . . . Hero . . ."

It's too bad that Sonic didn't see that Miles' tails were crossed.


	5. Needles

Fallen Idol  
Concept by The Tears of a Mad Man  
Written by Sean Catlett and The Tears of a Mad Man

Chapter 5

"It's okay, buddy, you're going to be okay, honest! We'll get you the best doctor in town, then we'll find out who did this to you and………" Sonic went on, babbling. 

Who was this 'We?' As far as Tails was concerned, there was no 'We' anymore. 

Just him. Him and his bleeding head. 

God, Tails was tired. All he wanted to do was sleep. 

In Sonic's arms, eyes closed, being carried to the hospital, Tails let himself go limp for real. 

**********

Fuc.k.in.g s i , m n, hi g y, ak ng me ly a te h m, go i h te p o le I e th s, th y ju t w nt gi e up, b t o, no, t ey al a s have to take over the w r d or s m t i g, it's al a s so e h ng, but this time it's different, t i g y s e s sm r er t a a l t e o h rs w o ha e t id to ta o er th s wo l . He's methodical, in e I us, I ca f el i. H w v r he m k s p o le e p o e I m so f c I g in e e t d in t at I d k l f r k o l dge l ke that. Aroun the c r er I f ew a t r h m, t y n to c t h up. BUT I LOST HIM!! F C !! I l n ed, lo king left nd ri h for his happ a s. T e e w s ru b e a d g r a e li t r d on t e gr u d. He c u d be a y h re. I s d n y f l t e u g to R P H S F CK NG HE D O F. I W N A S C H S E E AL S O T OF HIS H A A D D I K H S BR I S ! ! GODAMMIT!! OW!! He s d e l c me a o n the c r er, h n s ra s d in t e a r, a d sa d "I g e u !" " LL H T!" I y l e b c at h m, and l n ed, g o l g an s I t n . I c u d t s e his blood a r a y. B T HE W U D 'T QUIT G A NG AT E, THAT FUCK!!! When I r a h d him he p l ed s m t I g o t f o be I hi b k. It w s a p p . n t e o h r hand was a h p d r i n e le. T e it w nt d r w en he s u g t a m . 

**********

"Tails . . ."

The next morning, it seemed. The light from the windows filtered through the fox's eye lids. The soft, loathing sound of Sonic's singsong voice came into Tails ears. It made him grit and grind his teeth, but he kept his tone of voice tired and emotionless. 

"Wha . . . Sonic?"

He felt his body being hugged fiercely by soft, forceful arms. Tails opened his eyes to see his once idol's back laid across the front of him. And the white, cold, sterile walls of the same room he was in 24 hours before. 

"Shit. I'm in the hospital again."

Sonic leaned back, and wiped his face. Concerned and now very serious. "You're . . . you're not still mad at me, are ya, buddy?"

More than anything right now, Sonic, I want to rip your heart out. "Course not. I was being a whiney little bitch earlier. No problems now." Tails managed a weak smile.

"You sure?"

FUCK YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!! "Yeah, I'm sure."

Sonic frowned, but nodded. "Good. You up to walking?"

"I think so."

"Get dressed, then. We're leaving."

Sonic left the room then, waiting outside. The door closed behind him with a quiet click. 

Tails sprung up out of bed and started searching the room for a weapon. His hands went through the drawers in the corner below the sink. They came up empty. In twenty seconds he had all of the drawers searched clean and he was still empty handed. 

"Fuck!" Tails' eyes fell on the door. Maybe he could find a rock or something to knock him out with. He wanted Sonic dead so bad that he could taste it already. Then . . . 

The biohazard container, placed near the sink, glowing with red, caught Tails' eye. Slowly, as he rushed towards it, he realized that he had a headache. Inside the container Tails must have known that inside were various discarded instruments that the hospital throws away. Therefore, they wouldn't miss them if they were, say, taken. 

The problem is that they are full of contaminants. They're used. This is called the 'hatbox', or the 'ice cream container' by hospital staff. Although lighthearted, it's only superficial. Really, caution should be taken very seriously. 

But fuck it, right?

Tails carefully reached his hand down into the container, past the plastic flaps. He kept going down until his fingers hit something . . .

The headache increased. 

Tails wrapped his fingers around the object. He pulled it out carefully, hoping he didn't suddenly contract AIDS or something. He held the instrument in his hand, and suddenly his headache was almost unbearable, but he barely registered it. All he could think about was how . . . FAMILIAR it felt. 

A hypodermic needle. 

And for the first time in as many days, he asked himself, "What the fuck am I doing?!" 

**********

Outside the room, Sonic was waiting, leaning against the wall, ignoring the small child that was tugging at his leg. "Mr. Sonic. Mr. Sonic. Mr. Sonic . . . . . . . . ."

Tails came out, carrying his hospital gown in a bundle. "Let's go."

The blue hedgehog nodded, and stomped down the hall, Tails close behind, leaving the small child whimpering, holding a pen and a blank piece of paper in his hand. 

**********

Tails was thinking. Hard. Near the sink, he had watched himself in the mirror, the way he had carried himself. The way he held the needle, how fucked up his head had become. How there wasn't a single hair left on it. 

Tails, even though he still felt like killing Sonic, for the first time started to wonder why. 

They both walked down the hall, Sonic in the lead, not acknowledging anybody's presence. It was almost like he was storming down the hall, angrily. A guy at the front reception desk smiled and waved, singing, "They call him Sonic, because he faster than sound, and keeps jumping around-"

"Shut your fucking mouth!!" 

Tails was surprised at the sudden animosity. The sudden outburst, coming seemingly from nowhere. The poor guy was astonished, but with good reason. 

"Uh, Sonic, maybe we should go out the back way . . ." He whispered, noticing the stares from all the patients. 

"No. I want them all to hear this."

Uh oh. He wouldn't. 

At about 20 feet from the front hospital doors, they swung open, and the reporters swarmed in.

"I heard he was here . . ."

"THERE HE IS!"

And they came forward, microphones raised, lights, camera, action.

"So, you saved your friend again, huh Sonic?"

"Is he grateful this time?" 

"Is it true that you have homoerotic dreams about Shadow?"

Sonic just stood there, waiting for them to shut up. After awhile, the questions faded, and they all waited for him to speak. 

And boy, did he ever. 

**********

"Why did you do it, Sonic?"

"Because I'm sick of everyone and all their shit. If this is the price of being famous, I don't want it."

They had been getting phone calls all day. Companies wanting to retract contracts of sponsorship. Television host begging for him to come on their show and tell the country, again, WHY he did it. 

Why he fucking quit. 

"Can you even do that?"

"I can if I want to."

"Holy shit, dude . . . this is too much."

Sonic, standing near the phone, sighed. "I know. But it's necessary."

Tails couldn't tell if he was thankful or infuriated. "How are we gonna live?"

"I have money. Been saving it ever since Sonic: Part One." He smiled. "We're loaded, as it would seem."

The small fox sat on the couch and tried to relax. "What brought all of this on?" he asked, but he already knew the answer. 

"You." Of course. "I've been thinking a lot about this whole situation, and I decided that I'd rather be a nobody than be a somebody with no friends. If this is the cost of keeping us together, then so be it." Touching, really. "Now, consider us retired."

It sounded good and all, but there was something wrong . . .

Well, a couple of things. 

"One at a time," Tails whispered. 

"Hmmm?"

"Sonic, there's one more thing we have to do." Sonic stood there for a second, then nodded in understanding. "I . . . we have to solve the case."

"You know where he his?"

Tails nodded. "What he looks like, what his name is. I have all I need to bring him in."

Sonic thought hard, then his eyes fell on Tails' head. "You think you can handle him alone?"

Shock. "Are you serious?"

Short pause, then the blue one answered. "Absolutely," he said, giving a small smile. "Go for it. I think you can do this one alone. Hell, you deserve it."

Speechless. 

It took a lot of forcing, but Tails managed to go over and give Sonic a big hug before he left. 

On his way out, he grabbed his bundled hospital gown. 

**********

It must have rained last night. 

Redemption. 

Small pieces of the worms were strewn about, people who didn't care at all for them, going to get drunk or worse. 

Savior. 

Back in the Boardwalk area of town. Back near what is now T e Hol Chu k er. Back near the warehouse. 

Just in time. 

This was the part of town where everyone went to have a good time, or to escape the bad ones. To gain a moment of privacy, or to create a scene. Everywhere were abandoned buildings and bars and cat houses and warehouses and late hour bars to escape reality.

The last place Tails would ever go. Normally. 

Loser. 

To the left, docking yards. The sun was high in the sky, far from setting, far from inviting the seedy individuals to come out for . . . whatever. 

Tails stood in the center of the 'street', staring at a small puddle formed at his feet. He was staring at his reflection again, the radiating bruise, the stitch marks where the unknown wound was stitched. The entire pig fetus of his head staring back at him. 

Crack. 

Splat. 

Tails clutched the bundle of wrapped medical garments in his arms tighter, to lessen the pain of the headache. He looked to his right to the warehouse. 

Hesitation, this time different from before. Fear, not overpowering, but still enough to stop and think. 

It ends here.

The big NO. 

The noon sun hung straight overhead, casting a squatting shadow over the warehouse. For awhile he waited, trying to get the strength to walk in and finish what he wanted done. 

Tails got a quick, sudden flash of Sonic's smiling face, mutilated and bloody across the walls of a red sky. 

His fists tightened. 

With that, Tails walked in, following his bright, dried neon blood trail into the warehouse. 

**********

A small, cute ball of pink watched her hero sitting on the couch, her eyes big and watery. 

"Don't look at me like that, Amy. It's creepy." Sonic threw another potato chip into his mouth. He was watching television, anything but the news. 

"I can't help it. Why did you do it, Sonic?"

"I told you already. Stop bothering me." He got up and walked to his desk, filled with the collecting papers and notes from the Exploding People Case. Or whatever. 

"And you think you can trust Tails to solve the case on his own?"

Rustling as the papers were thrown into the trash can. Some of the facts were mixed with photographs and signed superhero cards. 

"Not think. Know. That little buddy of mine has been solving cases ever since we became a duo. He was always the smart one. I was just the one everybody wanted to fuck." He looked at her. "And don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

A tear fell. Sonic grabbed the last of the junk and pushed it off the desk. 

"You just want me for my fame," he said. Pausing, he went and sat back down on the couch. She started bawling. "Tails is more important to me than all the women, all the fame and fortune, all the money, and especially all of the fake recognition that I get. And yes, he's more important to me than you, Amy."

The crying was uncontrollable now, but the few words that he could make out from her were something to the effect of: "Not . . . true . . ." And she ran to him and flung her arms around him, screaming and crying. Sonic rolled his eyes and tried to comfort her. 

He started to think that maybe she really didn't just want him for the fame, that maybe she really did like him for what he was. It would be refreshing to say the least. 

This is what kept him from throwing her out the door right then. All Sonic did was pat her on the back and comfort her. That, and of course he watched television. 

**********

Tails lifted the lid of the wheat box. 

"Fuck!!" He wasn't there. He thought to himself what a stupid idea this was in the first place . . . 

One. 

Tails could hear a faint shuffling echoing around the warehouse. He flew into the air, carefully, nursing his hurt appendages, and looked frantically. High in the air, everything looked smaller and less realistic. It boosted his confidence. 

And there the human was, crawling out the back door as fast as he could, obviously in a lot of pain. 

"That's pathetic!" Tails yelled out, getting Merrick's attention, who then began to crawl out at a faster pace. 

The freak was halfway out the door when he felt hands grab his feet and pull him back in, and up into the air. Merrick screaming in horror, surprise, and pain as he was lifted. 

And dropped. 

Just before he hit the ground, Tails caught him again and gently set him down on the metal chair. He got down in front of Merrick and started his tirade. 

"I could kill you very easily right now . . . ."

"Likewise."

"Shut up. I'm not. You're going to the police."

The human, beaten to a pulp, squinted at the fox standing over him. "You're lying. You'll be charged with brutality. I'll sue you. I'll win."

"Right, whatever, I don't care anymore. I want you off the streets, and if I killed you I'd be no better than you are. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing I'd like more than to scrape you off the sidewalk with a shovel, but I'm tired and I want this over with. This is a police matter now."

Merrick stared at Tails with absolute disbelief. "No."

"Believe it. What did you think I was going to do? Team up with you? Kill people with you? Kill Sonic with you?! You're fucking nuts!"

Still tied with ropes around the ankles and wrists, the human sighed deeply. "Shit."

"Well put."

"I guess I was being naïve. I mean, you and Sonic have saved the world numerous times over, from even bigger problems. Who was I to think that I could take it over by making people explode using my gift. I mean, gee golly, I should give up right now, shouldn't I? I mean, shit, you're the side kick,! God forbid Sonic would actually turn me in. You have to do it. To prove yourself, right? To everyone that you're a big boy now?"

Two. 

"Whatever, alright. You're off the streets. That's what's important. But if you try to fuck with me, or try that staring shit then I can always say you attacked me. They believe my word over a freak's word. You know, a freak such as yourself."

Merrick smiled. "Tails, here is something I've learned: you're a horrible bluffer. You're not a killer. In fact, you're a little pussy. I could rip your fucking arm off and shove it up your ass, but I wont since you'd probably enjoy it. Fancy little faggot."

"Good one, Merrick. I'll have to remember that one next time I'm climbing off your mom."

"Oh, is that why she became a lesbian?"

Three. 

"Ok, enough. Let's go, short stuff." He reached down to Merrick's neck to grab him by the collar when suddenly the human lunged, screaming and kicking. They both fell to the concrete floor. Merrick's hands were untied, and suddenly he seemed to be in a lot less pain. 

He was faking. That sneaky little bastard. 

Four. 

Tails, overwhelmed by surprise, threw fists outwards, trying to hit him as best as he could, but all he managed to do was hit his stomach. He seemed taller now, even though he was only on his knees, Tails on his back on the concrete. It was getting hard to breath. Images of ripping the guy's face in two came to mind. 

The man grabbed Tails' hairless, scarred head and slammed it down on the concrete as hard as he could. Stars flew in front of the fox's eyes. A loud cracking noise resounded over and over again, and he could feel something break. 

Five. 

Again, his head was slammed on the concrete, harder this time. The hands wrapped around his head were sweaty and rough. More stars flew, but strangely, there was no pain. Only vast amounts of confusion. 

Merrick's face was visible through a waterfall of red. He had a maniacal grin on his face as he brought back his fist and brought it forward, connecting with teeth. Somewhere on the floor, they clattered. 

Thoughts were so jumbled that Tails first thought that he was winning, but then he finally started to concentrate on thinking of a way out of this. 

SLAM! Again. 

Six.

Think. Think. THINK. 

H sp tal G wn.

Seven. Eight. 

"Little fucking bitch," the human paused. Then hit again. 

SLAM!

His hospital gown had a weapon in it. A familiar, comforting weapon in it. Somewhere, it had flown out of his hands and was on the floor. Waiting. 

As his head hit the ground again, Tails for the first time realized that he was still flailing at the human above him, and not doing any damage. Despite being weak and very, very confused, it took some doing and hard concentration to convince himself to stop fighting. 

Nine. 

Tails' hands dropped, palms down. His head was slammed again on the floor. Everything suddenly became like liquid, so hard to move. Muffled and difficult to breath, yet comforting and serene. Drowning in a sea of red. His hands brushed the gown on the floor, the soft material inviting, and he struggled to reach inside. 

Above him, Merrick was grinning. "Did you actually think you could beat me, you little shit? No way." The human reached behind his back. Tails still couldn't find what he was looking for. "Although this is not what I had in mind, I can still finish what I started." His hands came to the front again. 

What? What the fucking hell?!

Ten. Eleven. 

Brandishing a hypodermic needle, full of fluid of an unknown kind, Merrick tapped the point near the insertion point. His pressed the plunger slightly, and it spurted forth a single stream. Also, Tails' hand finally reached the weapon. 

Without another word, Merrick brought the needle down with both hands, sailing towards Tails' heart. 

The fox was thankful for the sea of red, for it made everything slower, it gave him time to bring his own needle up in front of him, and leave it sailing toward the humans heart. 

They hit each other at about roughly the same time. Right on target, both of them. The difference was that Tails had only air in his. 

Twelve. 

It seemed common knowledge than if an air bubble enters a vein or an artery and reaches the heart, that either an embolism in the heart, or elsewhere in the body, will occur. Immediately, Merrick followed this rule and was thrown off of Tails' chest, catapulted backwards, thrashing. Both needles remaining in the two fighters. 

Something was wrong. 

"What . . . what the hell . . . ?!!"

And before it went all red and black, Tails saw himself chewing furiously on a piece of Merrick's face. 

Thirteen. 

**********

Surprisingly, Sonic had no dreams that night. He just lay in Amy's arms, asleep on the couch. Although he wouldn't admit it later, it was the best he had ever slept, because maybe everything had seemed so right with the world, that everything which truly didn't matter, he could let go and it would disappear. 

Right?


	6. Finished

Fallen Idol  
Concept by The Tears of a Mad Man  
Written By Sean Catlett and The Tears of a Mad Man

Chapter 6

It was going to be another one of those mornings. 

Sonic had a tough time willing himself to open his eyes, and when he did, he remembered the soft pile of pink that he was sleeping next to. 

"Fuck."

As he tried unsuccessfully to lift his arm without waking her, he sighed even harder when the doorbell rang. She fell off the couch. 

Double fuck. 

He ignored her confused cry and just walked to the door. The morning was young, and it was still too dark to see without any lights. 

Sonic didn't bother looking in through the peephole and merely opened the door. 

"Yeah?"

"He's dead," The strange visitor said without pausing in the doorway. He just walked in and moved through the living room, where Amy was now standing up. In Tails walked to his room. Amy rubbed sleep out of her eyes. 

Sonic was silent. Thinking. He had sounded so different . . .

"What's wrong?"

It was awhile before he said anything. "I'm not sure."

Amy stretched her arms over her head, groaning. "You gonna go talk to him?"

Again, a pause while he tapped his foot.

"Yeah."

**********

In the dark, Tails sat. He didn't bother to turn on his light and check himself, because he already knew what he would find. 

In Sonic walked, cautiously, carefully, also not turning on the light, for fear that the young fox would object. 

Feigning ease, Sonic leaned against the door and closed it silently. He crossed his arms. 

"Killed who?" He asked, not really expecting an answer. 

He received none. The dark weighed heavily on Sonic's body. It was suffocating, and he desperately wanted to turn on the light. 

Instead: "Tails, is something wrong?"

It got thicker. "No."

"Are you sure? Did everything go alright?"

Stupid question. Already he knew what had happened, but feared to face it. It was too hard to believe that everything was long gone, especially a friend that he enjoyed his company with. 

"Yes," Tails whispered, his voice childlike and creepy. "Everything went super duper perfect." He gave a thumbs up that could barely be seen.

The hedgehog considered the sincerity of it all, hoping that maybe he could convince himself that Tails really was telling the truth . . .

No. 

This isn't right. 

"Come on, kiddo. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Really Sonic, everything was fine. We wont have to worry about the killer anymore. I solved the case. He's going away for a long, long time . . ."

"Tails . . ."

"Yes?"

"Can I turn on the light?"

" . . . Sure."

The hesitation seemed to last forever, Sonic's finger below the switch. But he had to see, he had to see the kid's eyes . . . . 

The light went on.

"Oh . . . . . . . . my . . . . . ."

"See? I told you everything was fine . . . . . . ." Tails said, another drop of blood hitting the carpet.

**********

Sonic ran to the bathroom. Fast. His super sonic speed really kicked in when he ran to the toilet, bent over, and blew chucks. Amy walked into the bathroom, surprised. 

"Sonic, what's wrong?! What's going on?!" Amy said. She got no answer, only the sound of Sonic's upchuck. Amy walked out of the bathroom, and into Tails' room. She gasped in horror as she saw the grizzly sight.

Tails' face was covered in blood, and his left eye was totally red. His head was busted open again, but worse then before. One of Tails' ears were gone . . . no, wait, it was only half ripped off. His nose bent to the side a slight bit, and seemed shorter . . . since it was bashed into his face. 

"Oh my god, Miles, Oh my god . . ." She slowly walked towards the two-tailed fox, in a shocked daze. "Tails . . . what . . . happened?" 

Tails looked up towards Amy, and grinned through the bloody hell of a mess which was his face. "What happened? Well . . . I happened." 

Amy looked at him oddly. "What do you mean?" 

"Nothing, except the only reason this happened is because of my own stupidity." He stood up. "But oh well. Shit happens." Tails then walked out of the room with his busted face.

**********

The needle was inserted again. The small, fine wire ran through the flesh into the outside world again, and the Doctor sighed heavily. 

"At this rate, you'll put my kids through college." Nobody in the room laughed. 

This was turning to be all too familiar. The white walls were no longer uncomfortable but inviting to the Sonic crew. It was a second home now. 

The job done after only one hour, the doctor started to tightly wrap gauze around the bald, cracked open, stitched up head. The doc snipped the end off. He smiled at the unmoving fox. 

"Try to keep this one on, okay?" He lightly patted the kid's shoulder, and gathered his things. 

**********

Back in the same old hospital room with the same old headache, the staff had granted Tails this to recuperate from all that he had been through. A police report had yet to be filled out, but a detective from the Bureau was supposed to come by later. 

"Buddy, are you gonna tell me what happened?" 

This was Sonic talking. 

" . . . No."

Amy was back at the apartment. 

"Why not?"

"What good would it do?"

The blue hedgehog shrugged, walking down to the bed, and he sat down next to his side-kick. 

"I don't know. It would make me feel a little fucking better, I guess."

"Eh. Deal with it. It doesn't matter anymore. It's over now." That strange mood was still ever present, but it seemed slightly more subdued to Sonic. He took this as a good sign and kept talking to him. 

"That's a relief, ya know? I was afraid that this would turn into another Merlinger case." Sonic smiled. "I overreact sometimes, I realize, but it's only because I know the worst can happen. It's compensation, usually at the expense of others. I swear to you, Tails, I'll make it up to you. You and Amy both."

A reassuring pat on the back. A chime of the clock. A shuffling of feet. A feigning of ease. 

"Merlinger?"

"Hmmm? Oh, yeah. This was before we met. One of my first huge jobs, when I was younger, and it was in between Robotnik conflicts. Merlinger, he was sadistic. This asshole fucked my shit up good, and he got away. It was the only case I didn't solved. Caused some damage too."

" . . ."

"Tails . . ."

"What?"

"This . . . IS over, right? I mean, he IS dead, right?"

"Of course."

"Then we're done. There's nothing else we can do here."

"I guess."

Sonic was getting himself worked up on purpose. Denial at it's best.

"So, what do you say we get out of here?"

Outside, there was a shuffling of reporter's feet, small murmurs as they tried to sneak up to the outside door without being heard. 

"Fine."

It wasn't until two hours later until someone outside noticed that the hospital room had gone quiet. 

**********

Staring.

It's what every one of the people on the street were doing. But it wasn't the staring Sonic was used to, mind you. They weren't looking at him like a hero anymore, but more as a villain. Looks of disgust, hatred, and betrayal were all Sonic could see. It seemed to be an endless sea of animosity as Sonic and Tails walked home.

He could feel their eyes on him . . . it was like slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. The pressure slowly building on him . . . as much as he tried to rid himself of this feeling, it just wouldn't go away. It hurt his soul to see them hating him like this, but he couldn't blame them. He did betray them to a point. But he had to do it.

He had to do it for Tails.

After what seemed like an eternity, they made it back to the motel room. Tails sat on his bed, Sonic on his. The strange feeling between him and his little buddy still remained, but it was less now.

"Tails . . . I think we should go on a little trip."

Tails' head raised a little. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, like, a vacation or something. I have this lake that no one goes to. Maybe . . . we could go there?"

Tails said nothing. Silence. But then, "Just us?"

"If you want."

"No offense, Sonic, but maybe someone could come with. Make it a little more . . ." Tails raised his head up so he could see eye-level with Sonic. ". . . Interesting."

Sonic blinked, and shrugged. "Sure? Got anyone in mind?"

"Amy." Tails said almost to quickly, like he had it planed it out already. "Amy, please."

Sonic grinned. He always knew that the fox and a little thing for the pink ball of annoying. "Sure" he said, "Amy can come."

"Thanks. It means a lot to me." Tails dropped his head down again, looking at the floor. 

Sonic then stood up. "Well, I'm gonna go get something to eat. Want anything?" Tails shook his head. "Okay then. Be right back."

Tails was glaring daggers into Sonic back as he walked out the door.

**********

Sonic was still gone, and Tails was in the bathroom, looking deep into his own eyes. The mirror wasn't a very big one, or a well cleaned one, but it did it's purpose. Tails looked at the horror he had become . . . once the sidekick to the greatest hero known, now a low life living off some dye job of a hedgehog.

What, you didn't know Sonic wasn't naturally blue? Oh come on, have you ever seen anyone with natural blue hair? Same thing, you know.

Tails looked at his head . . . the dried blood . . . the cuts, the stitches . . . 

. . . He looked at his face . . . his black eyes . . . his broken nose . . . his busted lip . . . the mirror showed him what he really was . . . 

So he smashed his face into it.

The pieces fell all over the floor, all but one jagged spider-webbed piece. It came out from the bottom of the frame, to about the middle. Tails saw his face the way he wanted to, now . . . 

He smiled.

Things were gonna get better . . . 


	7. Equal

Fallen Idol  
Concept by The Tears of a Mad Man  
Written by Sean Catlett and The Tears of a Mad Man

Chapter 7

Morning. 

The sun rises early, even before the early crew workers assigned to paint the storage room on the bottom floor of the complex. The sun rises even before the moisture is finished washing down into the drains on the sidewalks. The sun rises even before the fan-fiction writers finally turn in for the night. 

But, as early as the sun rises, it still wasn't early enough to win the race against Sonic, Amy, and Tails. They were up, ready, and gone before the sun could catch them in the act. That's how serious they were. 

Each of them had only gotten about two hours of sleep total, but despite the early wake-up call and the overall exhausted feeling, sleep was the last thing on all of their minds. In fact, sleep would probably not come easy for a long time. 

Escape was priority. 

Escape was ALL priorities. 

On his desk, in plain sight for the police, press, superintendent, crazed fan, or assassin to find was a resignation letter, signed by Sonic, Tails, and Amy. Each in their different, generic, fan-assigned colors. No one would catch the sarcasm, most likely. 

"Dear Everyone,

We Quit.

Love, Us."

Simple. Sonic allowed it to be this way because of his theory that they would all miss the point no matter what was said in the letter. At least this way, it seemed like they didn't really give a shit. Exactly the effect they were going for. 

Before the sun entirely emerged from the blanket of the horizon, the trio had split up and tied the loose ends. Tails collected debts from his "friends." Amy said goodbye to her parents. Sonic withdrew money from the ATM machine. Tails carried everything he could to Goodwill and left it there, thinking maybe someone would find a use for his old junk. Amy returned things she had borrowed from numerous people. Sonic delivered his will to a good friend of his.

And then to the storage sheds. 

The trio stood on the outside of the door to their unit, all lifting as hard as they could. The giant metal shield came upward, so loud that a flock of birds nearby fluttered and scattered away. Dust poured out from the inside of the thin, aluminum shack. It was too dark to see inside, but the airplane's outline could be seen rather clearly. 

Tails was the first to walk inside. 

And exactly fifteen minutes later, they were airborne, sailing the skies to an unknown destination that no one below would ever know. 

**********

"So, how much did you figure out on this case?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well . . . while you were gone, I tried to investigate by interviewing some witnesses. Heh, as you can imagine, it didn't go well at all. I am definitely not a private eye."

"Hmmm."

"In the end, I just gave up and decided to go looking for you. I didn't find shit out about the exploding, er, liquefying people except that the survivors are fine, save for one."

". . . One?"

"Yeah, Mrs. Kurtsweil. Nice old lady, but . . . slightly changed from the experience. Bunch of creepy holes on one of her arms." Sonic made whooshing noises and swept his hand in front of his face. "Clean through."

"Hmmm." Tails rolled out from under the plane, covered in oil. He handed the wrench back to Sonic and stood up. "She should fly."

"A man of many talents, you are, Tails. So did you beat anything out of the poor bastard?"

". . . Actually, uh . . . I just, I don't know . . . I guess, he was making them liquefy by some psychic ability, maybe . . ."

"Huh. How is that even possible?"

"Well, Robotnik, he uses metal and shit effectively. I mean, fuck, he can make a giant robot powered by an ancient emerald."

"So you think maybe he enhanced himself?"

"Genetic tampering is a possibility. He mentioned that this entire thing was his 'work,' his 'legacy,' so on and so forth. He was very self-absorbed and cocky."

"They all are."

Tails sighed, resting on a tool box, his face monotone and emotionless. "I guess . . . we can never really know what his master plan was. Somehow, he had found a way to use his mental powers and intentionally harm people without touching them. I mean, you can't deny his brilliance. His genius. He was so . . . methodical, so . . . precise. He managed to outwit the cops, the press, us, and even when I caught him, he still didn't reveal his plans to me. I beat the shit out of him and he didn't even wince. Didn't even blink. Now that . . . is true power."

"What about Charlotte?"

"Who?"

"Mrs. Kurtsweil. The old lady."

"Hmmm . . . maybe we stopped him just in time to save her life . . ."

"How do you mean?"

"He was maybe in mid-concentration when we went after him. Wouldn't be surprised if ten more people ended up like her. Did you check all of the witnesses?"

"Actually . . . I kinda stopped with her."

"Well, in any case, you're right, Sonic. You're NOT a private eye."

Sonic stared at his melancholy friend, and started laughing, his voice echoing in the hangar. Tears started forming in his eyes and he couldn't stop himself, even when he was out of breath. A week's worth of tension finally released. Only when Amy came into the hangar did he stop, wiping his face swiftly and standing up. The pink hedgehog dumped all five of her suitcases on the ground, smiling. 

"Hope you guys don't mind, but I packed a few things to bring. We ready to go?"

**********

"Well . . . I think we finally did it."

"Yeah . . . we did . . ."

". . . WOHOOOOOO!!!!"

"Shit!! Don't yell right in my fucking ear! Ouch."

The wind rushed past Tails' ears with a roaring fury that a dragon could probably muster, and yet he could hear the conversation in front of him with surprising ease. 

"Oh come on, Sonic, loosen up!" Amy called out, wrapping her arms around his neck. He groaned over the slight noise of the propeller, which was a few feet in front of him. He eyed it carefully, as if it brought up bad memories . . . 

"As soon as we land . . ."

"And I'm SO glad you decided to take me along, my little huggy-bear!!!" Her arms wrapped tighter, causing him to barely choke out the words, "Huggy-bear?"

After she released her iron grip, Sonic turned to face her, grinning and pointing his thumb at the pilot in the back. "It was Tails' idea!"

Tails couldn't see Amy's expression because he was too busy watching the skies, seemingly in full concentration of the road ahead. It did not matter to him that he had missed what was probably a humiliating gaze or an uneasy reaction from someone he had once had a crush on, but it was more important to him that the plane get to the destination as quickly as possible. 

The horizon lay low ahead of them. The sun had completely risen above the burning edge of the planet. Waves of heat distorted the already dull and distant surface. The three refugees could only imagine what had happened to the world they left behind.

"So, where're we going, exactly?"

"A place I used to go before I landed on civilization, or rather, it landed on me."

"Sounds fun."

Indeed.

The morning passed with as much regularity as anything else in the world. Soon, it was almost lunch time, the time where it was absolutely a perfect idea to set up a picnic, that the slightest bit of green color started to appear on the infinite blue sea. As the distance closed in the island got bigger and bigger until, finally, it was time to land. 

"The Green Hill Zone."

**********

Amy stretched the blanket out over the area Sonic had led them to, about 500 yards from their landing spot. She marveled at the deep level of green that the trees were set in, the lush green plants, and more importantly, the perfect blending of infinite debris scattered as far as the eye could see. Tails stood away at a distance, taking in the serenity. He sat down on the blanket and tried to pretend that he wanted to eat something.

"Industrial perfection at its best," Sonic called out, hefting the basket of food out of the plane. In a flash he was back with Amy, not even breaking a sweat, a huge smile breaking on his face. "I haven't seen this place in ages. Man . . . it brings back memories . . ."

In his mind, Sonic saw a simpler time, where being a hero wasn't being hero, where fighting for a belief was nothing more than a typical day, where survival came first. Where it didn't matter if no one was watching. 

"I've all but forgotten about this place . . ."

It's just that easy, you see. It's that easy to forget. 

"Let's stay here forever."

"I wish."

The place might as well had been dead. 

"So, is this what we're going to be doing for the rest of our lives?" Amy hugged Sonic across the waist and pulled him down to the blanket in a sitting position. 

"Wandering? Scrounging for food? Hiding from the masses of the inhabited world? I'm afraid so."

"It doesn't sound so bad. As long as I have you."

"Don't make it easier for us to leave you behind, Amy."

"Sonic!"

"Aw, hey, calm down, I'm just kidding with you."

"Still . . . it hurts me."

"You're so stuck on me."

"Like super glue!" Squeeze. Gasp. 

"Let . . . me . . . GO!"

"Nope!" Giggle. 

Sonic reached for the nearest item, which happened to be a can of tomato soup, and he poured it all over the pink hedgehog that clung to him. Like insecticide to an insect, she released, retreating in horror. 

All Sonic could do was laugh his ass off. 

It was a benevolent war. Replacing weapons of death with weapons of life. Food. Water. Thrown back and forth in piles of themselves, gravity lost. Laughter replaced screaming. Words uttered at high volume with distinct similarities to other words, forming sentences, sort of. Something like "And THIS was for Huggy Bear!!" mixed with giggling. It must not have seemed real anymore. Like, maybe, it was all a recording, a mixture of what was supposed to be fun. These were actors. This was a set. Everything was painted and filled in with other things, that were real but trying to be something else. It was all an illusion. 

This, I can assure you, was what it must have been like watching it all unfold. No one can properly decipher the mind of someone like Tails, but you can come pretty fucking close if you know what it's like to . . .

He didn't speak, you see. He didn't say shit. 

He was silent the entire time at the Green Hill Zone, and they didn't even notice.

When they left the island in the afternoon, the masses were hot on their trails, and when they reached the green pastures of debris, all they found were chunks of food and stab marks all over a nearby tree. 

Nothing more. 

**********

Flying again.

The winds blew over their faces at such high speeds, but that didn't stop Amy from talking.

One could only wish.

"Where to now, huh, Huggle-Bunny?" 

Tails had a wild guess that Sonic didn't exactly like that nick name, as small struggle of "What did you say?" and giggles followed into one more tickle fight. This was the third one on this flight. Sonic sure flirts a lot for someone who can't stand rabid fans.

Soon, a puddle of crystal clear water came into view. As the three drew near, the puddle became larger and larger until it was a full blown lake. Landing on a dilapidated runway, Tails couldn't get out of the plane faster as the two in the back continued their little struggle . . .

**********

  
An old raggedy cabin sat next to the lake. This wasn't expected, but it was a pleasant surprise. Indeed. Inside were a few old beds but they still seemed to be in good shape. The cabin had a fireplace, a wood stove, and a perfect view of the lake. Night was starting to set in and the stars looked beautiful. 

Tails sat outside, by himself, looking up the stars. His face was totally blank, and it like he was looking beyond the stars, searching for something else . . . and at that moment, Tails heard footsteps heading towards him.

"Hi, Tails . . ." Amy said, sitting next to him. "Sonic kicked me out . . . said I was getting annoying! Can you believe that?! Humph . . ."

Tails' stare never left the sky. Amy blinked a few times, and waved her hand in front of his face. "Tails? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, sure, fine." Tails muttered quickly.

Sigh. "Look Tails . . . I need to talk to you." Amy's voice turned a bit more serious as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you have feelings for me . . . and . . . well . . . even though I flirt with Sonic, it's just for fun . . . I really do like you, Tails . . .

. . . I want to be with you . . ."

A smile spread across Amy's face. Tails slowly turned his head towards her, and said ". . . I want to be with you, too, Amy . . ."

**********

Yawn. Stretch. 

". . . Amy?"

Oh. Right. Amy's gone. Remember, Sonic?

Poor Tails, thought Sonic to himself. Having to deal with Amy the entire night. Still, it was a sort-of favor. He had told Amy about Tails' crush, then they had come up with a plan to get them together. Amy was actually, quite surprisingly, all for it. She had a crush on him, too. 

It was too perfect to fail. 

Course, there were ever so slight feelings of rejection and inadequacy, but Sonic sifted past those in a hurry. Amy's crush could have never blossomed into something further, simple as that. Besides, it was fun while it had lasted, but all good things must come to . . . 

Huh?

What's this?

"Tails?"

"Yeah?"

" . . . Where's Amy?"

Oddly enough, Tails was working on refueling the plane, working busy like a bee. Alone. No one else around for miles around. No signs of young love. No pink hearts swirling in the air. No giggling.

Nothing.

"Oh. She went home."

"What?!"

"I took her home. She said she didn't want to be around us anymore."

". . . I see."

"Yeah. I didn't sleep last night because I had to fly her bitch ass back to Station Square and not get caught. I had trouble keeping my eyes open on the way back, since on the way up all she did was talk about what a horrible bastard I was." Tails scratched the side of his head with the wrench, the bandages almost coming off. 

". . . Funny. I didn't hear the engines."

"Stone sleeper you are."

"Hmm. I guess."

"She said that she regretted leaving you, but she just couldn't stand the tension anymore. Any idea what she was talking about?"

". . . Yeah."

"Ah. No surprise, then."

". . . Nope. No surprise."

"You want to get out of here?"

Something wasn't right. This wasn't right. Amy gone? No way, no fucking way. Tails talking this much? Odd, very odd. Getting in the plane with him would be one of the stupidest ideas anyone could ever do. Get away, turn him down, turn him in, let the masses handle the escape. Let the heroes do the dirty work. Don't get in the plane, DON'T DO IT!

"Sure. Let's go."

**********

Tails was silent again, and even though Sonic did not turn his head around to look at him, he knew that it was not the sky the Tails was watching. He could practically feel the eyes burning into his skull . . .

"Hey Tails!"

The engines were so loud that a reply could have slipped by without being noticed. 

"Tails!"

"yeah?!"

Sonic was growing increasingly worried about Amy's condition. Was she dead? Was she tied up somewhere? Did they leave her at the lake? What the hell did Tails do to her?

Things were NOT all okay. Not by a fucking long shot.

"Did Amy say anything about our plan?!"

". . . plan?!"

"Yeah! We were trying to hook you two up!"

"what?!"

"Yeah! She didn't say anything?!"

"no, i mean, i didn't hear what you said!"

"Amy had a crush on you, Tails! She was TRYING to ask you out! She LIKED you!" The anger was starting to surface, but Sonic kept his hardened stare on the darkening horizon. "Look, I realize that the past week has been a little rough on you, but for fuck's sake, you didn't have to take it out on Amy! She's fragile! She's not the type of person to pick a fight! There's no way in hell she would willingly argue with you!" Sonic paused, waiting for a response. None came. "Look, all I'm saying is that something else must have happened between you two! Whatever it is, just tell me! I won't . . ." 

. . . Tails?!"

No answer.

"Tails?!"

Still no answer. 

Now Sonic had figured, even if he didn't want to admit it, that in the back of his mind there was some doubt about Tails' condition. It had frightened him to the point of staying as far as possible from the theory that Tails really had gone insane . . .

But that's stupid, right?

Right . . . 

And when Sonic turned around, all he saw was the flash of a giant, red-stained wrench being swung at his head. 

**********

". . . I want to be with you, too, Amy . . ."

The wrench had impacted with Amy's skull, cracking it wide open. A vein on her forehead opened up, spraying blood across the grass, silhouetted by the moon. She still had a smile on her face when she went down, her body convulsing and shaking violently. Tails grabbed her foot with one hand and dragged it to the edge of the river. Placing the wrench between his teeth, he grabbed an arm, any arm, of Amy's and bent it towards himself as far as he could, to the opposite direction. It didn't take much to snap it, but he kept bending it until the back of her hand touched her shoulder blade. He did the same with her other arm, this time bending it sideways first. Her voice starting to come back and her shock starting to subside, along with her smile, Amy started whimpering, her volume increasing dangerously. Tails took his wrench and smacked Amy in the face once more, knocking a couple of teeth out.

And then threw her body as far as he could into the lake. 

**********

Sonic was seeing double by the time he pieced everything together. Merrick . . . the explosions . . . Merlinger . . . revenge . . . blood, oh God, the blood

"Tails! Stop!"

Tails swung the wrench again, this time catching only the hard metal of the plane. Sonic jumped out of his seat, swaying from side to side in the harsh wind. The wrench had caught Sonic on the left side of his head, screwing up his equilibrium and vision. Sonic could feel something hot running into his eyes. 

Tails recovered and brought the weapon up again, a stone expression on his face. The exact same one that he had been giving them for the entire week. Ever since all of this started . . . 

"Tails! Don't do this! I'm your fucking friend!"

The wrench came quick once again. Sonic barely dodged out of the way.

"What did you do to Amy, Tails?! HUH?! Did she beg for her life?! Did she tell you that she liked you?!" Sonic could not bring himself to fight back. Tails was his friend, after all, his little buddy. His only hope was to try and negotiate, to appeal to Tails'-

Swing. Miss. Sonic was being forced to the front of the plane, the wind whipping and tearing at him even faster. He was blind in one eye because of clotted blood. Down to the very backs of his heels, Sonic could feel the front propeller slicing through the thin cushion of air, so close to his feet. He was at the end of the line.

"Miles! What the fuck is the matter with you?!"

Tails gripped the wrench even tighter, a slight smirk growing on his face. The wind was tearing at his fur and bandages violently. The plane was picking up speed. 

Sonic's vision had cleared up enough to where he could dodge easily out of the way when Tails attacked. That and the added momentum of the plane catapulted Sonic to the exact distance he needed to get clearly out of the way and behind his attacker. Tails, however, was not so lucky, for when he saw Sonic dodging his mighty blow, he had tried to correct himself.

Tails tripped over his own two feet, falling head first into the front of the plane, arms still outstretched. He freed one hand from the wrench and tried to brace himself, but the other hand still on the weapon flew straight into the propeller. 

When Sonic landed on the other side he immediately got a face full of blood. Chunks of flesh also hit his arms as he tried to deflect the debris, almost being knocked over but quickly regaining his footing. When he looked ahead again, squinting from his vision and the wind, he saw the wrench flying off into the horizon. 

Tails had instinctively rolled over, gripping his severed hand in pain, but what he rolled on top of was the slender nose of the plane, rolling downward into the ground far, far below.

The blue hedgehog starting running as fast as he could, already seeing Tails falling over the edge.

**********

The police of the masses, still on the trail of Sonic and crew, reached the cabin by the lake. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary: scattered dirt from a landing airplane, a bed that looks slept in and used, an unlocked door, some trash. Then it came to the attention of one careful observer that the grass in one area was matted down and unusually red. It led in a trail down to the lake.

**********

Sonic's hand grasped firmly around Tails' mangled hand, saving him from falling to his death. His other hand was hanging limply at his side, as if he were already dead.

Over the howling wind and the unbearable whir of the propeller and Tails' screaming, no one noticed the mountain that they were headed for. 

"Tails . . . why did you do this?!"

The fox hanging over oblivion immediately stopped screaming, giving Sonic this look of utter anguish and despair. His other hand flew up to his eyes to catch the tears flowing from them. His body convulsed as he cried. 

"I don't know! I killed Amy, Sonic! I killed her and I don't know why! I can't stop doing this!"

Amy Rose . . . dead. Dead and gone and never coming back. 

Sonic looked at the crying fox beneath him, his grip slowly losing itself, slippery from the pulsing blood. He look at the sobbing form beneath him and worked up the courage to speak.

"Miles . . . I'm not mad at you."

Sonic used his other arm, gripped around the nose of the airplane, to try and pull Tails up. He figured everything would be just fine. Everything was finally going to go back to normal . . . 

Tails reached into the bandaging on his head and pulled out a hypodermic needle, and in one smooth motion he slammed it into Sonic's skull as hard as he could, depressing the plunger and sending all of the air it contained. Sonic's reaction didn't quite hit until a few seconds later when the pain finally washed over him. Sonic looked into Tails' eyes and saw a contented expression plastered all over his face. 

Sonic lost his grip on both ends. Together, they fell. They fell longer than the plane flew. 

**********

Well, my friend, I am nearing the end of my tale, so to speak. There isn't all that much more to tell. The police had trailed the crew all the way to the mountain where Tails' airplane crashed. Sonic's body was found nearby, dead for at least a week. As for Tails, they found him crawling around the island, mumbling to himself and screaming fits of rage. It didn't take long for everyone to figure out that everything was his fault. Tails never tried to pass the blame to anyone. He admitted everything at his trial, and the sentencing was swift and just. And here we are. Those screams that you hear, those are his. Even from four stories down, his siren penetrates down to every room on every floor. He is somewhat of a legend in this place, a sort-of fable. In fact, you could call us his fan club. It's not that we admire that kid, mind you, but we do respect him a great deal. He is a man of awesome power, and we feel that, some day, he may spare us when he tries to break out of here. Oh, don't you dare think that Merrick didn't plan for this to happen. Merrick was a man of science and mysticism. He could have easily passed on his gift to little Tails. And anyway, he got the recognition he so rightly deserved, wouldn't you say? Don't you think that the fame that he strived for was achieved?

Sir?

Well, whatever. You are one voice amongst a throng of followers. You do not matter in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure you're not alone in the normal, everyday world . . . 

But here it is not the case. 

I wouldn't sleep tonight if I were you.

The End. 

*ahem* Well, and so ends the project that is exactly a goddamn fucking year in the making, the project known as "_Fallen Idol._" I'm not sure I remember exactly why or how I got starting on this, but I think Tears once said something to me like, "Hey, dude, wouldn't it be cool if Tails killed his idol Sonic in some sort of gruesome, contrived way?" and I said something like, "Actually, yes, that would be pretty cool, but gee, TTOAMM, writer of _Click_, who would be brave enough to take on such an endeavor?" and then he hit me in the face and said, "WHY WE WOULD, OF COURSE!!" and so it was. 

Granted, that probably isn't exactly the way it happened, but when it's been a FUCKING YEAR since the idea was first conceived, it becomes hard to retain such knowledge. Maybe it's also because it started to gradually take us so much effort in releasing new chapters. I think somewhere along the line we got lazy and forgot entirely about it. I call this the "Sonic: Sketchy" syndrome.

All of that aside, this project is cool in my book and I wouldn't have traded in twenty horny women or 2 million in gold for blah, blah, blah, the usual sappy bullshit I pull out of my ass.

Happy trails. Hope you all enjoyed the ride.

-_Sean Catlett_

And so it was, two lazy teenagers finally finished this damn story. When did we start this? A year ago. How many chapters are in it? **_SEVEN._** SEVEN chapters. A YEARS work. Just think about it.

Anyway, working with Sean was awesome. I'm honored to be such a worthless author and be able to work with him. He might be a gay, cross-dressing hippie who likes crack cocaine, but he's okay in my book.

I think one of the main reasons we wrote this was to see either some GOOD Fanfiction flow into FF.net, or just write some bloody, twisted shit. Either way, it was fun, and I'd do it again anytime.

Well, I hope someday me and Sean will work together again one day . . . and hopefully we won't be as lazy as we were on the story at hand. Go outside, read a book, kill something.

Have fun reading something else, and Jhonen Vasquez said it best, "SMILE UNTIL YOU STOP."

__

------TToaMM


End file.
